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Nuclear Nuevo México: Colonialism and the Effects of the Nuclear Industrial Complex on Nuevomexicanos
In the 1940s military and scientific personnel chose the Pajarito Plateau to site Project Y of the secret Manhattan Project, where scientists developed the atomic bomb. Nuevomexicanas/os and Tewa people were forcibly dispossessed from their ranches and sacred land in north-central New Mexico with inequitable or no compensation.
Contrary to previous works that suppress Nuevomexicana/o presence throughout U.S. nuclear history, Nuclear Nuevo México focuses on recovering the voices and stories that have been lost or ignored in the telling of this history. By recuperating these narratives, Myrriah Gómez tells a new story of New Mexico, one in which the nuclear history is not separate from the collective colonial history of Nuevo México but instead demonstrates how earlier eras of settler colonialism laid the foundation for nuclear colonialism in New Mexico.
Gómez examines the experiences of Nuevomexicanas/os who have been impacted by the nuclear industrial complex, both the weapons industry and the commercial industry. Gómez argues that Los Alamos was created as a racist project that targeted poor and working-class Nuevomexicana/o farming families, along with their Pueblo neighbors, to create a nuclear empire. The resulting imperialism has left a legacy of disease and distress throughout New Mexico that continues today.
Contrary to previous works that suppress Nuevomexicana/o presence throughout U.S. nuclear history, Nuclear Nuevo México focuses on recovering the voices and stories that have been lost or ignored in the telling of this history. By recuperating these narratives, Myrriah Gómez tells a new story of New Mexico, one in which the nuclear history is not separate from the collective colonial history of Nuevo México but instead demonstrates how earlier eras of settler colonialism laid the foundation for nuclear colonialism in New Mexico.
Gómez examines the experiences of Nuevomexicanas/os who have been impacted by the nuclear industrial complex, both the weapons industry and the commercial industry. Gómez argues that Los Alamos was created as a racist project that targeted poor and working-class Nuevomexicana/o farming families, along with their Pueblo neighbors, to create a nuclear empire. The resulting imperialism has left a legacy of disease and distress throughout New Mexico that continues today.
- GenresNonfictionHistoryLatinx
184 pages, Paperback
Published November 22, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
November 25, 2022
Mixed feelings. The material is important and well researched. The personal stories are moving. But too often the tone is more diatribe than presentation, and that detracts from the content.
Gómez explores four demonstrable ways in which the post-1942 world has harmed New Mexicans: the Los Alamos land grab; the treatment of Hispanic workers as expendable; downwind effects of the Trinity test; and long-term storage of nuclear waste. (There's a middle chapter about racism in a TV show; I choose to ignore that for being neither pertinent nor actionable). She documents each with oral testimony from those involved and with external sources when possible -- and, unfortunately, the latter is often limited. That’s how classism works. Gómez is not building a legal case, though—that has been pursued elsewhere, with discouraging results. What she’s doing here is building awareness of a topic too few of us are informed of. So, breathe through the polemic, skip the TV chapter, and take some time learning. Maybe even acting.
Gómez explores four demonstrable ways in which the post-1942 world has harmed New Mexicans: the Los Alamos land grab; the treatment of Hispanic workers as expendable; downwind effects of the Trinity test; and long-term storage of nuclear waste. (There's a middle chapter about racism in a TV show; I choose to ignore that for being neither pertinent nor actionable). She documents each with oral testimony from those involved and with external sources when possible -- and, unfortunately, the latter is often limited. That’s how classism works. Gómez is not building a legal case, though—that has been pursued elsewhere, with discouraging results. What she’s doing here is building awareness of a topic too few of us are informed of. So, breathe through the polemic, skip the TV chapter, and take some time learning. Maybe even acting.
January 10, 2024
Blips of intrigue, often followed by unnecessarily repetitive points and diatribes on parts of the greater nuclearcolonial struggle that pale in comparison to the death, disease, and destruction that nuclear production causes — how strange to discuss a television show directly after a chapter dedicated to the horrible deaths of men who worked there. Overall a good effort but underdeveloped and with misplaced focus.
December 14, 2022
Focused exclusively on the impact of nuclear “colonization” on the Hispanic and Native American population of New Mexico. It’s a rant. Lots of arcane academic language at times as well as tilting at windmills. One whole chapter on a television series that did not accurately portray Hispanics at Los Alamos. Nothing new. Hollywood rarely gets it right. Subtle distinctions between colonialism and coloniality were lost on me.
The author is descended from New Mexicans whose land was confiscated to build Los Alamos. She teaches at UNM. She makes her point that Los Alamos did not meet all the criteria for site selection but was selected because of who owned the land- nonwhite peoples. They were then used as a source of cheap labor. Trinity Site was also chosen due to its proximity to Los Alamos. To say it was a remote and isolated place is a lie. She covers the downwinders too. Amazingly an act was passed by Congress to compensate Americans effected by nuclear testing but it does not cover the original testing of the atomic bomb in NM! All attempts to pass amendments to cover these NM families have failed in Congress. I wish why this no brainer and Congress’ failure to do the right thing was analyzed more.
No real coverage on uranium mining and how that has decimated indigenous communities nor storage of weapons. She does cover the nuclear corridor in SE New Mexico in Lea and Eddy Counties. The WIPP will probably end up being a de facto Yucca Mountain storage area.
It seems New Mexico’s future is forever linked to the nuclear industry. Just like the contamination it’s not going away. So much injustice that has still not been addressed.
The author is descended from New Mexicans whose land was confiscated to build Los Alamos. She teaches at UNM. She makes her point that Los Alamos did not meet all the criteria for site selection but was selected because of who owned the land- nonwhite peoples. They were then used as a source of cheap labor. Trinity Site was also chosen due to its proximity to Los Alamos. To say it was a remote and isolated place is a lie. She covers the downwinders too. Amazingly an act was passed by Congress to compensate Americans effected by nuclear testing but it does not cover the original testing of the atomic bomb in NM! All attempts to pass amendments to cover these NM families have failed in Congress. I wish why this no brainer and Congress’ failure to do the right thing was analyzed more.
No real coverage on uranium mining and how that has decimated indigenous communities nor storage of weapons. She does cover the nuclear corridor in SE New Mexico in Lea and Eddy Counties. The WIPP will probably end up being a de facto Yucca Mountain storage area.
It seems New Mexico’s future is forever linked to the nuclear industry. Just like the contamination it’s not going away. So much injustice that has still not been addressed.
December 15, 2023
This book is so incredibly important and necessary. ❤️
December 12, 2023
As a Nuevomexicano with querencia to the Espanola Valley, I identified strongly with the material presented in this book. Dr. Gomez details the unspoken/untold stories of Nuevomexicano/a(s) and our families who have been affected by the historical decision to make Los Alamos the site of the atomic bomb’s development.
Although her writing style feels formal and scholarly, I think it strengthens her arguments by being concise and logical.
Overall, I’ll be recommending this to my non-Nuevomexicano/a friends who ask me about my opinions on the recent release of the Oppenheimer film. I know the information presented in this book was out of scope of the film’s plot/goal, but it’s important information that tells a greater picture of how Oppenheimer’s liking to New Mexico changed the history of the economy in Northern New Mexico and continues to affect our state.
Although her writing style feels formal and scholarly, I think it strengthens her arguments by being concise and logical.
Overall, I’ll be recommending this to my non-Nuevomexicano/a friends who ask me about my opinions on the recent release of the Oppenheimer film. I know the information presented in this book was out of scope of the film’s plot/goal, but it’s important information that tells a greater picture of how Oppenheimer’s liking to New Mexico changed the history of the economy in Northern New Mexico and continues to affect our state.
October 7, 2025
“Nuevomexicanas/os' constant struggle to protect our querencia-our acequias, our landrace seeds, raising and butchering animals, preserving food, hunting, fishing, passing on the Spanish and Tewa languages, passing on ritual dances like Los Matachines and other Pueblo ceremonial dances—is what gives us a sense of place and a pride in that place. That is a politics of space that I am committed to defending.
“As much as I want to believe that querencia alone will allow us to decolonize ourselves and our communities from nuclear colonialism, I know that it is too nostalgic. As I have learned from my friends and my colleagues, not everyone has a home to which they can safely return. In addition, many of us, particularly of my generation, have become complacent in these new systems that have alienated us further from our land-based traditions, these new, dare I say nu-clear, patterns.”
A fascinating look into the nuclear industrial complex in New Mexico. It shone with the personal stories/testimonies. As others said, the chapter about the Manhattan Project TV show felt random and almost like it didn’t belong, but it was interesting nonetheless. Sometimes repetitive and a bit disjointed, but overall a really informative and thought provoking (& depressing) read
“As much as I want to believe that querencia alone will allow us to decolonize ourselves and our communities from nuclear colonialism, I know that it is too nostalgic. As I have learned from my friends and my colleagues, not everyone has a home to which they can safely return. In addition, many of us, particularly of my generation, have become complacent in these new systems that have alienated us further from our land-based traditions, these new, dare I say nu-clear, patterns.”
A fascinating look into the nuclear industrial complex in New Mexico. It shone with the personal stories/testimonies. As others said, the chapter about the Manhattan Project TV show felt random and almost like it didn’t belong, but it was interesting nonetheless. Sometimes repetitive and a bit disjointed, but overall a really informative and thought provoking (& depressing) read
January 24, 2025
This book is about the impact of the nuclear industry on the people and the land of New Mexico. It’s informative and I think it opens up a conversation about nuclear energy, its waste, and the destruction it creates on all levels. The horrors of the Manhattan Project in the lives of the Americans (New Mexicans) living in New Mexico are also included. I think the book could have been written better. More information and more stories would have been helpful but I appreciate that this book was written and I think it should be added to and amplified.
July 20, 2024
this book is INCREDIBLE and i strongly believe everyone should read it. the book is broken into five chapters covering the initial establishment of the manhattan project in los alamos, experiences of ‘nuclear alienation’ by indigenous and mexican-american workers on the project, the continuous misrepresentation of new mexico and nuevo mexicanos in media (by outsiders) covering the history, the long term aftermath of the trinity test, and the ongoing struggle against the nuclear industrial complex and nuclear waste storage in the southeastern region of the state. gómez does an amazing job of connecting her own personal experiences to archival findings to interviews which were a mix of first-hand accounts and also those from family members (i did cry with many of the accounts, they are loaded but so impactful to the points she is getting across). she also put a great deal of work into making the theoretical frameworks and concepts as accessible to understand as possible. gómez articulates the pervasiveness of nuclear development from back then to now in a way that was refreshing and validating as the existing and future harm is regularly disregarded in mainstream discussions. she reveals the side of the story that has always been repressed in the story of the first atomic bomb.
this book spoke to many of my own experiences growing up and coming from a community and family that is shaped by LANL (the insane entity it is in northern new mexico). it breaks down how new mexico became a ‘wasteland’ for the u.s. gov, taking a new lens to environmental racism. gómez powerfully confronts the structures that have been built to make the state and its people dependent on an industry that threatens the livelihood of their land, water, and communities. will be going back to this book regularly! fuck oppenheimer– READ THIS BOOK!
this book spoke to many of my own experiences growing up and coming from a community and family that is shaped by LANL (the insane entity it is in northern new mexico). it breaks down how new mexico became a ‘wasteland’ for the u.s. gov, taking a new lens to environmental racism. gómez powerfully confronts the structures that have been built to make the state and its people dependent on an industry that threatens the livelihood of their land, water, and communities. will be going back to this book regularly! fuck oppenheimer– READ THIS BOOK!
May 21, 2024
this book is incredibly well researched and active in its writing, especially when thinking about how few and minimal primary resources gomez has to pull from. the middle chapter about the tv show manhattan felt unnecessary and at times, it felt like the same point was being addressed continuously. despite that, this book is greatly researched and incredibly successful in detailing the impact of nuclear and environmental colonialism on nm and marginalized populations. super essential read especially for those unfamiliar!
October 15, 2024
A lot of great information delivered at the worst way possible
August 25, 2025
The actual information is incredible. The history, stories, and policy that is laid out is fascinating and often times sad and disturbing. The analysis leaves lots to be desired and often I felt like it was a bit overdone and could have benefited from an editor. Reads like a dissertation at many points (which I think it was) but I think some of that could have been removed for the actual book and it would be great.
October 5, 2024
Ms.Gomez has written an important but sad book as all books detailing injustice have always been. She presents the other side of the history of the huge nuclear industry in New Mexico. Jobs have been created but livies have been lost, families made to suffer, lands taken and cultural norms erased.
Well worth reading.
Well worth reading.
October 5, 2023
I was able meet Myrriah in New Mexico and see some of the places she writes so deeply about. A beautiful read with so much heart poured into the writing. My understanding of this region and its history is changed forever, highly recommend especially with the Oppenheimer movie coming out so recently
April 12, 2025
required reading for anyone living in New Mexico
August 27, 2025
What Have We Done
Blind ambition is highlighted. A disregard for the future is exhibited. When will we ever learn. The few want to change that.
Blind ambition is highlighted. A disregard for the future is exhibited. When will we ever learn. The few want to change that.
September 16, 2025
The book is awkward as a monograph. I wonder what it would’ve been had it been poured into nonfiction or a collection of essays. Form aside, though, this is an insightful read.
January 13, 2024
This is an accessible academic book. I really liked how she leans on authors of colour for her theoretical framework and analysis, contributing to citational and epistemic justice. It is a vital book for anybody who is interested in energy colonialism and can be a valuable lesson to consider now that the West is busy continuing along this path with other energy sources such as lithium.
June 28, 2025
Book delves into the repercussions of the Nuclear industrial complex on the displacement of Nuevo Mexicanos/as and Tewa Pueblo people during the Manhattan Project. It highlights how their roles were diminished, the execution of a Nuclear waste disposal plan, and the disregard for fallout effects from testing, all overlooked by the federal government. By disseminating this information, there is potential to shift the narrative and bring about change.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews